Shelli Stephens-Stidham has 25 years of experience in public health, including 18 years in injury and violence prevention. From 1990 through 2007, she served in various capacities with the Injury Prevention Service of the Oklahoma State Department of Health. She was responsible for planning and coordinating the development, implementation, and evaluation of statewide and community-based injury prevention programs and overseeing surveillance for reportable injuries. She is also a founding member of Safe Kids Oklahoma. She has been a STIPDA member since 1994, serving as the state-voting representative for Oklahoma from 2005 through 2007.  In January 2008, she became the Director of the Injury Prevention Center of Greater Dallas (IPCGD) in Dallas, Texas. The IPCGD has adopted the World Health Organization (WHO) Safe Communities model as an approach for working in communities to engage residents in injury prevention. In 1995, the IPCGD assisted Dallas in becoming the first WHO endorsed Safe Community in the United States; Dallas was re-certified by the WHO in 2007.

Susan Hardman has been with the New York State Department of Health since 1987, working in a variety of injury prevention programs. In February 1998 she was appointed Director of the Bureau of Injury Prevention and oversees injury surveillance and program activities. Among her professional interests, Susan is dedicated to the advancement of professional development and training for injury and violence prevention practitioners. She is the current president of the State and Territorial Injury Prevention Directors Association (STIPDA), the only national nonprofit organization comprised of public health injury professionals representing all U.S. states and territories. She also served as the co-chair of the National Injury and Violence Prevention Training Initiative, which developed of a set of core competencies for injury and violence prevention professionals that outline a common understanding of the essential skills and knowledge that are regarded as necessary to work in the injury and violence prevention field.

Linda Scarpetta is the Manager of the Injury & Violence Prevention Section at the Michigan Department of Community Health.  She has a Masters degree in Public Health in Epidemiology from the University of Michigan School of Public Health.  Since she joined the department over 17 years ago, she has been involved in the development, implementation and evaluation of a variety of surveillance and community-based injury and disability prevention programs. Prior to joining the health department, she worked as an epidemiologist for two years in Morgantown, WV for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health conducting occupational injury surveillance and statistical analyses. She is currently serving a second term as the Vice President of the State and Territorial Injury Prevention Directors Association (STIPDA) and has served two terms as a member of the STIPDA Executive Committee. She has participated in the development of consensus documents for various national and STIPDA committees, including the Framework for Evaluation in Public Health, Consensus Recommendations for Injury Surveillance in State Health Departments, Consensus Recommendations for Surveillance of Falls, STAT Review Guide, and Safe States (revision).

Peg Prusa-Ogea, M.A. has worked for Nebraska Health and Human Services for 17 years; she has worked in the Injury Prevention Program for the past 8 years.  Currently she coordinates the activities of the CDC-funded Public Health Injury Surveillance and Prevention Program. She oversees the Rape Prevention and Education Grant and serves on the Statewide Suicide Prevention Workgroup and the CODES Advisory Committee. Peg assists with Safe Kids activities in Nebraska and is a certified Child Passenger Safety Technician Instructor.

Mr. Lundell serves as the Deputy Director of the University of Iowa Injury Prevention Research Center where he began working in 1994.  The Iowa Center is one of twelve CDC-funded “Centers of Excellence” in injury control research.  Mr. Lundell is involved in numerous injury-related research and public policy initiatives and is responsible for the Center’s outreach program. John has undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Iowa. He is also a graduate of the Johnson County Citizens Police Academy and a retired firefighter.

Lori Haskett is the Director of the Injury Prevention & Disability and Health Programs at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.  She is responsible for developing policies for state programs, recruiting and maintaining public/private partnerships, and developing grant applications.  Lori also chairs the CPS section of the Safe Kids Kansas Coalition.  She is a Certified Child Passenger Safety Instructor and served on the National Child Passenger Safety Board. 

Lori has been a STIPDA member since 2002.

Patricia Keller, M.P.H., R.N., has over 20 years combined experience in public health with North Carolina and Utah county and state health departments.  In 1983, Ms. Keller established the Violence and Injury Prevention Program for the Utah Department of Health and continues to manage that program.  She has primary responsibility for program planning, development, and assurance of successful implementation of the Violence and Injury Prevention Program (VIPP).  This entails preparing, administering, and monitoring a $1.9 Million budget involving contracts with 12 Local Health Departments statewide, University of Utah, Rape Crisis Centers statewide, and other community based agencies. 

Ms. Keller has served in various state and national leadership positions.  She is a member of the American Public Health Association and is a board member of the Utah Public Health Association.  She was a founding member of STIPDA, and has served as an officer or Executive Committee member since 1992.  She has served on various committees for STIPDA and currently chairs the Policy Committee.

Beatriz Perez is currently Manager of Safe Rhode Island at the Rhode Island Department of Health (HEALTH).  As Manager of HEALTH’s violence and injury prevention programs, Ms. Perez administers the federal grants awarded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for Injury Surveillance and Prevention, Rape Prevention and Education and oversees the Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Program funded by the Rhode Island Department of Transportation.   She has been the Team Leader for the Rhode Island Suicide Prevention Planning Team since 1999.  Under her leadership, the Team developed the state youth suicide prevention plan titled, A Suicide Prevention Framework for Rhode Islanders Ages 15-24.  She is Co-Chair of the RI Violence Prevention Network and served on its Leadership Team since1997.  Ms. Perez currently represents HEALTH on the Northeast Injury Prevention Network (NEIPN), a collaboration of state public health departments representing Regions I and II, since 1997.  Most recently, Ms. Perez was elected to serve on the STIPDA Executive Committee after serving as a state representative for over five years.  She is the author and co-author of numerous publications and presentations related to violence and injury prevention and is first author of “Trauma, Childhood Sexual Abuse, and AIDS” in Women at Risk: Issues in the Primary Prevention of AIDS.

Lisa VanderWerf-Hourigan is the Manager of the Office of Injury Prevention at the Florida Department of Health.  Ms. VanderWerf-Hourigan has over 25 years of experience in the injury prevention and emergency medical services fields.  She received her Bachelor’s degree from Auburn University and her Master’s degree from Florida State University. She served for over 20 years in the Bureau of Emergency Medical Services in the Florida Department of Health and maintains her Florida Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) certification. 

Billie Weiss, MPH, is an epidemiologist and was the Director of the Injury and Violence Prevention Program of the Los County Department of Health Services Injury and Violence Prevention Program, since the programs inception in 1990.  Ms. Weiss wrote the original proposal to establish the program.  In addition, Ms. Weiss is the Executive Director Emeritus and a founder of the Violence Prevention Coalition of Greater Los Angeles.  She is currently the Associate Director for outreach and communication for the Southern California Injury Prevention Research Center at the UCLA School of Public Health Ms. Weiss is the author of numerous papers, three book chapters, and is frequently called upon to make presentations to scientific, professional and community conferences and meetings.  She holds a BS in molecular biology from California State University, Fullerton, and a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology from UCLA.